More good news for Google's Android mobile operating system: New data from market research firm comScore shows Android is pulling away from the rest of the smartphone pack in the U.S. In fact, Android's market share rose to 36.4 percent in April 2011--that's an impressive 5-percent jump from its 31.2 percent share in January.

Apple's market share rose slightly in the first quarter, as the iPhone edged past Research In Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry platform for the number two spot.

Unfortunately, the news is grim for RIM, which suffered a sizable 4.7-percent share drop. Both Microsoft (Windows Phone/Mobile) and HP (Palm OS) fell a bit as well. Here's comScore's breakdown:

The comScore numbers for the U.S. market mirror recent market-research studies from Canalys and Gartner, both of which show big first-quarter gains for Android.

Samsung remains the top handset manufacturer in the U.S. with 24.5 percent of the market in April, down a miniscule 0.4 percent from January.

Apple bumped RIM from the number-four spot, its first-quarter share rising 1.3 percent to 8.3 percent. RIM, meanwhile, fell less than a half-point to 8.2 percent.

The comScore MobiLens study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers.

With new Android phones arriving every day (or so it seems), at prices ranging from low to high, it's no surprise that Google's mobile OS is gobbling market share at a dizzying pace.

T-Mobile this week announced two sub-$100 Android phones: the Samsung Exhibit 4G ($80 after $50 rebate) and the Samsung Gravity SMART ($70 after $50 rebate). At the high end, the Verizon Samsung Droid Charge is $300. (All prices with 2-year wireless contracts.)

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